Your Character's Name: Jane Thompson We woke up to find Arthur gone. As we looked around we found a note saying he'd catch up with us later. We start to heavily
search the garage to see if there is anything we could scavenge. Kate is making her way through the offices in the back, as
Dahvin and I look around outside. I stay near the door to keep an ear on Kate, but try to keep Dahvin in my sites, too. I had a bad feeling. Something was in the air. Briefly, I considered that maybe I couldn't keep Kate safe like I had for so long. Well, at least safer than she would've been without me around. I cared so deeply for her, and I just wanted her future to be brighter than or past.
“Jane!” Dahvin yells, and takes off around the corner of the building. Well, at least the night was safe even if this morning shaped up to be more eventful. I chase him around the corner, leaving Kate alone inside picking locks to various rooms. Where
is Arthur when you need him? Why would he just leave without waking us up? Where Art thou? Now is not the time for puns.
“Hey! What’s going on?” I hear Kate call from inside.
"Stay inside!" I yell, and I hope she stays busy with the locks. I briefly wonder if my protectiveness is actually for her benefit, or if the shielding will ultimately hurt her for one reason or another. Yet, as I skidded to a stop next to Dahvin I forget all other thoughts.
"What the hell, Dahvin? What if there are others?" I looked down at a girl, sprawled out on her back, trying to catch her
breath, but unconscious nonetheless.
"That's why I hit her with the brick. She was scaling the wall! She was fast! It was incredible! She back flipped out the
window! I just wanted to talk to her!" Is he delirious? He kept spouting off things in rapid fire, and I could just barely keep
up. "Look at her! She is a fucking ninja!" I stared at him for a brief moment in disbelief that he'd even be so frantic, he was
usually a bit more controlled. He looked me in the eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly and sincerely he said it again, "She is
a damn ninja," and with a grin, "A damn hot ninja."
I looked back down at the girl slightly grinning, at least he stopped spazzing out. The girl was indeed dressed like a ninja. Black hood, though she was a little scantily dressed, and if she did all the stuff Dahvin said I suppose it was possible. "We should take her inside," I said, "restrained of course." In my pocket I had some extra shoelaces and use them to bind her wrists, while Dahvin used extra articles of clothing to tie up her ankles. I scanned the area before we carry our newfound friend around the building and back inside. Only the rubble watched us now, so maybe things were looking up. Dahvin suggests tying her to the table. As we do, I can see the bruises forming all over her body, "How far did you make her fall, man?" and I try to check her ribs, but she twitches, and I let her be. I didn't want a potential ninja waking up with someone hovering over her. No need to send anyone into a panic if we don't have to.
"She might have already been almost to the top." He was upset, and kept staring at her face.
"Kate isn't going to be okay with this," I mumble stepping away to check on her progress.
I walk through the different rooms that she has opened, before finding her all the way at the end. She was muttering to herself, but I couldn't hear her until I stepped into the room. A large, gas powered generator roared inside. The rumble didn't even register in my head until I saw it. The metal of the generator was rusted from sitting all these years, and I doubted it was properly maintained. Then the odor overtook me. It was thick and sat on my tongue. In the corner, a long-dead corpse sat still clutching a bottle of dark liquid. Liquor, no doubt.
It was then I noticed Kate had no idea I had even approached. She stared at the body, psyching herself up to do something. She was definitely agitated. I reached for her shoulder, "You okay?" Of course, she would scream. She spun around waving her arms wildly, as I tried to stabilize her. "Hey! It's me! It's just me!"
Catching her breath, "I found the power. I mean, obviously." She turned around again, and fixated back on the body. Because very little flesh still clutched the bones, and I believed the stench came from the tattered rags still on the body. I followed Kate's eyes and decided she wanted the bottle. I look around the room, most of it being occupied by the generator, when it occurred to me... the generator was on.
"We should go," I start, but it doesn't register in Kate's head. I know the dead body is causing her flashbacks, and I cringe also knowing that those are one of the things I will never be able to help Kate with. Knowing that I can't change her past. We needed to go. I reach down and crudely rip the bottle out of the dead man's hand pushing it into Kate's stomach for her to grab. Its arm breaks and pieces fragment off. "We should go," I repeat. She begins to question, but I cut her off, "If this generator is running, it means someone is supplying it, which means they will come back, which means we definitely need to go."
Kate comes to the same realization and heads back out to the garage area, as I rescan the room. As I leave I pull the doors behind me, to make it seem like we were here as little as possible. When I get back, I had forgotten about the ninja girl, who was now awake. And I had left her with Dahvin. Naturally, Kate was a wreck, and I can't help but laugh as Dahvin is trying to explain the story.
"She was scaling the wall!"
"He's lying," the ninja keeps trying to interject. She was a lot more calm than I would have expected.
"I threw the brick because she was scaling the wall! I'm telling you, had I let her go, she'd probably be the one trying to
kill us right now!" Kate is confused as hell, as Dahvin tries to explain what had happened outside.
"Which means you can untie me now, and I will be on my way." The ninja reminds me of myself. Act innocent. Act like you mean no harm. Throw the potential enemy off guard. After all these years wandering with Kate I had done almost every angle to stay out of a fight and to protect Kate, I could sense what she was capable of.
After a long drawn out debate, we finally agree to untie her. I can fix up her cracked ribs, and I hope that generosity would be enough for her not to slaughter us. She agrees, and cautiously I wrap her torso praying she didn't try anything stupid.
As I finish I think about how Kate doesn't even let me this close to her most days. I'm the only person Kate trusts and Kate is the only person I trust, and yet it feels there is a wedge between us. I try to push the focus of Kate out of my head, as the presence of the ninja is definitely a more pressing matter. I try to think about how this morning could've gone differently. And where the hell did Arthur go?
We woke up to find Arthur gone. As we looked around we found a note saying he'd catch up with us later. We start to heavily
search the garage to see if there is anything we could scavenge. Kate is making her way through the offices in the back, as
Dahvin and I look around outside. I stay near the door to keep an ear on Kate, but try to keep Dahvin in my sites, too. I had a bad feeling. Something was in the air. Briefly, I considered that maybe I couldn't keep Kate safe like I had for so long. Well, at least safer than she would've been without me around. I cared so deeply for her, and I just wanted her future to be brighter than or past.
“Jane!” Dahvin yells, and takes off around the corner of the building. Well, at least the night was safe even if this morning shaped up to be more eventful. I chase him around the corner, leaving Kate alone inside picking locks to various rooms. Where
is Arthur when you need him? Why would he just leave without waking us up? Where Art thou? Now is not the time for puns.
“Hey! What’s going on?” I hear Kate call from inside.
"Stay inside!" I yell, and I hope she stays busy with the locks. I briefly wonder if my protectiveness is actually for her benefit, or if the shielding will ultimately hurt her for one reason or another. Yet, as I skidded to a stop next to Dahvin I forget all other thoughts.
"What the hell, Dahvin? What if there are others?" I looked down at a girl, sprawled out on her back, trying to catch her
breath, but unconscious nonetheless.
"That's why I hit her with the brick. She was scaling the wall! She was fast! It was incredible! She back flipped out the
window! I just wanted to talk to her!" Is he delirious? He kept spouting off things in rapid fire, and I could just barely keep
up. "Look at her! She is a fucking ninja!" I stared at him for a brief moment in disbelief that he'd even be so frantic, he was
usually a bit more controlled. He looked me in the eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly and sincerely he said it again, "She is
a damn ninja," and with a grin, "A damn hot ninja."
I looked back down at the girl slightly grinning, at least he stopped spazzing out. The girl was indeed dressed like a ninja. Black hood, though she was a little scantily dressed, and if she did all the stuff Dahvin said I suppose it was possible. "We should take her inside," I said, "restrained of course." In my pocket I had some extra shoelaces and use them to bind her wrists, while Dahvin used extra articles of clothing to tie up her ankles. I scanned the area before we carry our newfound friend around the building and back inside. Only the rubble watched us now, so maybe things were looking up. Dahvin suggests tying her to the table. As we do, I can see the bruises forming all over her body, "How far did you make her fall, man?" and I try to check her ribs, but she twitches, and I let her be. I didn't want a potential ninja waking up with someone hovering over her. No need to send anyone into a panic if we don't have to.
"She might have already been almost to the top." He was upset, and kept staring at her face.
"Kate isn't going to be okay with this," I mumble stepping away to check on her progress.
I walk through the different rooms that she has opened, before finding her all the way at the end. She was muttering to herself, but I couldn't hear her until I stepped into the room. A large, gas powered generator roared inside. The rumble didn't even register in my head until I saw it. The metal of the generator was rusted from sitting all these years, and I doubted it was properly maintained. Then the odor overtook me. It was thick and sat on my tongue. In the corner, a long-dead corpse sat still clutching a bottle of dark liquid. Liquor, no doubt.
It was then I noticed Kate had no idea I had even approached. She stared at the body, psyching herself up to do something. She was definitely agitated. I reached for her shoulder, "You okay?" Of course, she would scream. She spun around waving her arms wildly, as I tried to stabilize her. "Hey! It's me! It's just me!"
Catching her breath, "I found the power. I mean, obviously." She turned around again, and fixated back on the body. Because very little flesh still clutched the bones, and I believed the stench came from the tattered rags still on the body. I followed Kate's eyes and decided she wanted the bottle. I look around the room, most of it being occupied by the generator, when it occurred to me... the generator was on.
"We should go," I start, but it doesn't register in Kate's head. I know the dead body is causing her flashbacks, and I cringe also knowing that those are one of the things I will never be able to help Kate with. Knowing that I can't change her past. We needed to go. I reach down and crudely rip the bottle out of the dead man's hand pushing it into Kate's stomach for her to grab. Its arm breaks and pieces fragment off. "We should go," I repeat. She begins to question, but I cut her off, "If this generator is running, it means someone is supplying it, which means they will come back, which means we definitely need to go."
Kate comes to the same realization and heads back out to the garage area, as I rescan the room. As I leave I pull the doors behind me, to make it seem like we were here as little as possible. When I get back, I had forgotten about the ninja girl, who was now awake. And I had left her with Dahvin. Naturally, Kate was a wreck, and I can't help but laugh as Dahvin is trying to explain the story.
"She was scaling the wall!"
"He's lying," the ninja keeps trying to interject. She was a lot more calm than I would have expected.
"I threw the brick because she was scaling the wall! I'm telling you, had I let her go, she'd probably be the one trying to
kill us right now!" Kate is confused as hell, as Dahvin tries to explain what had happened outside.
"Which means you can untie me now, and I will be on my way." The ninja reminds me of myself. Act innocent. Act like you mean no harm. Throw the potential enemy off guard. After all these years wandering with Kate I had done almost every angle to stay out of a fight and to protect Kate, I could sense what she was capable of.
After a long drawn out debate, we finally agree to untie her. I can fix up her cracked ribs, and I hope that generosity would be enough for her not to slaughter us. She agrees, and cautiously I wrap her torso praying she didn't try anything stupid.
As I finish I think about how Kate doesn't even let me this close to her most days. I'm the only person Kate trusts and Kate is the only person I trust, and yet it feels there is a wedge between us. I try to push the focus of Kate out of my head, as the presence of the ninja is definitely a more pressing matter. I try to think about how this morning could've gone differently. And where the hell did Arthur go?